Politics

Liz Truss’s cabinet is to be asked to find “efficiency savings” in Whitehall budgets, Sky News understands, putting huge pressure on frontline services.  During the leadership contest, Ms Truss said that she was “not planning public spending reductions”. Now the Treasury is expected to send out a letter within hours to secretaries of state insisting

Sir Keir Starmer has called for a recall of parliament to discuss the financial market turmoil following Friday’s mini-budget. Speaking to reporters, the Labour leader said the move by the Bank of England to launch a temporary bond-buying programme to prevent “material risk” to UK financial stability was “very serious”. Politics Hub: ‘Growing movement’ for

Labour will tomorrow unveil plans to ensure every primary school child in England has access to fully funded breakfast clubs under a government led by Sir Keir Starmer. Announcing the scheme on the final day of the party’s conference in Liverpool, Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, will say the policy will be paid for

A Labour MP has been suspended from the party after she was accused of making “racist” comments about the chancellor. Rupa Huq was administratively suspended pending an investigation after she claimed that Kwasi Kwarteng was “superficially” black. The MP for Ealing Central and Acton made the remarks about the UK’s first black chancellor at a

Sir Keir Starmer will claim a “changed” Labour can turn the UK into a “growth superpower” in his keynote conference speech – as a new poll gave the party its largest lead over the Conservatives in more than two decades. The Labour leader will tell party delegates in Liverpool on Tuesday that Labour’s Green Prosperity

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said the UK government is putting the economy in danger and attacked Prime Minister Liz Truss’s plan of “trickle-down economics” after the pound sank to a record low against the dollar. Sterling slipped to a low of $1.0327 on Monday, before stabilising at around $1.07, following lows seen after

Angela Rayner has said she is “worried” about the online abuse aimed at This Morning hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby after allegations they skipped the queue to see the Queen’s coffin. Speaking at a fringe event at Labour’s conference in Liverpool, the party’s deputy leader said the attack they are facing on social media

Labour will pledge to “build British industry” through the use of a state-owned investment fund during the second day of the party’s conference in Liverpool. In her speech later today, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, will set out the party’s industrial strategy, which includes promises to invest in national projects from battery factories to clean

After last year’s showdown with the Labour left on party rules and the resignation of a shadow cabinet minister, Sir Keir Starmer is hoping for a calmer, happier conference in Liverpool. But the leader knows he is not in control of all his party’s levers – and his bête noires in Momentum and the Corbyn-backing

Sir Keir Starmer has accused the Conservatives of showing their “true colours” by unveiling tax cuts that will benefit the wealthiest most. Arriving at Labour’s party conference in Liverpool, he vowed to set out a plan for “an economy that works for working people” – unlocking “growth for everyone”. According to the Opposition, the mini-budget

The party conference season is a long-established ritual of British politics: part theatre, part drama and part soap opera. For many it’s the highlight of the political year. The highs and lows of conferences – from tumultuous applause and standing ovations to unforeseen disasters and gaffes – become part of political folklore and can make

In the end, Kwasi Kwarteng’s statement indeed cost more than £2 billion a minute and turned politics on its head. Threads that linked the three preceding Tory governments since 2010 were severed, while slogans, billboards and arguments about what it has meant in recent years to vote Conservative clattered into the waste bin. The new

Councils are calling on the new prime minister to honour her promise to put £13 billion into social care, as government plans to scrap the newly introduced national insurance levy were confirmed. Ahead of today’s mini-budget, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said the tax hike – introduced in April to pay for social care and tackle the

People working part-time will face cuts to their benefits if they do not look for extra hours, the chancellor is set to announce. As part of his mini-budget on Friday, Kwasi Kwarteng will say claimants working up to 15 hours a week on the National Living Wage will have to take “active steps” to increase

Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats are part of a desperate attempt to justify his “catastrophic” failure in Ukraine, Liz Truss has said. In her first speech on the world stage as prime minister, Ms Truss accused the Russian president of “sabre rattling” after he warned his country would use “all the means at our disposal” to

Liz Truss did not discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol or migrant crossings of the Channel during her meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Downing Street has said. Number 10 said the prime minister had a “constructive” conversation lasting around half an hour with the French leader, but it focused on energy security rather than the

Joe Biden will tell Liz Truss she must work with the EU to find a negotiated outcome to the Northern Ireland Protocol when they meet later today, the White House has said. The US president and the prime minister will hold a delayed meeting in New York on Wednesday, where world leaders have assembled for

A by-election will be held this autumn in a strong Labour seat after Rosie Cooper announced she was stepping down as an MP after 17 years. The Labour MP, who has represented West Lancashire since 2005, said the announcement “will come as a surprise to many people” as she had recently secured reselection to stand

The UK will match the support it has provided to Ukraine this year in 2023,  Liz Truss has pledged.  Ukraine’s army has reclaimed swathes of occupied territory in the east of the country in recent weeks, forcing Russian troops to retreat. In her first foreign trip as prime minister, Ms Truss is expected to point

The government is considering introducing a fixed discount for businesses on the amount they are charged per kilowatt hour for energy as part of its plans to tackle soaring prices, reports suggest. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy did not deny the policy was on the table ahead of the government’s mini budget,